CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL
Smriti Irani launches FICCI-FLO initiative ‘Empowering the Greater 50%’
- Ms Smriti Irani, Minister of Women and Child Development and Minister of Textiles, Govt of India launched a special campaign ‘Empowering the Greater 50%’, a FICCI and FLO initiative spearheaded by Dr Sangita Reddy, President, FICCI.
- Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi has announced a stimulus package of Rs 20 lakh crore which will also empower women and provide financial assistance to the women associated with self-help groups, FICCI-FLO can look at this as an opportunity to collaborate.
- With this backdrop, FICCI and FLO has launched the initiative ‘Empowering the Greater 50%‘ which targets to impact the lives of 1,00,000 women in India over the next three years. As a first step, this initiative aims to build a network of visionaries and influencers who could pledge their time and resources to support this campaign.
- The program is designed to enhance entrepreneurial and decision-making skills through engagements such as mentorship programs, access to finance, business accelerators, training women to get into boards, special guidance to marginalized women on a business framework and financial models.
- Recently, Jahnabi Phookan appointed as the National President of FICCI Ladies Organization (FLO)
About MoWCD
- Minister of Women and Child Development and Minister of Textiles: Smriti Irani
- Constituency: Amethi, UP
India pledges USD 10 million to UNRWA over next two years
- India has announced contributing 10 million US dollar to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) over the coming two years.
- Addressing an Extraordinary Virtual Ministerial Pledging Conference for UNRWA, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan stated that capacity enhancement through training and building durable institutions is a major plank of our developmental assistance to Palestine.
- Asserting that UNRWA needs continued support, Mr Muraleedharan stated when certain countries withdrew funding, India had stepped up its annual pledge from 1.25 million US dollar to 5 million US dollar in 2018. He stated, for this year, India has already disbursed two million dollar and will soon be remitting the balance three million dollar.
- He stated, India provides 250 annual scholarships to Palestinian youth and officials, apart from regular customised training programmes, and our current project grant is around 72 million dollar.
About UNRWA:
- The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is an UN agency created in December 1949 to support the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. The UNRWA definition of “refugee” covers Palestinian who fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 Palestine War.
- Headquarters: Amman, Jordan and Gaza, Palestinian Authority
- Commissioner-General: Christian Saunders (acting)
